Bottle-washing machine.



J. M. FELGER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION PILD Nov.2e,191o.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. M. PBLGER. BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION I'ILED NOV. 26, 1910.

Patented Oct. 3, 19.11.

5 SHETS-SHEET3.

.L M. FBLGER. BOTTLE WASHING MAGHINB.

APPLICATION I'ILED NOV. 26, 1910.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

6 SHEETB-BHEET 4.

6 SHEETS SHEET 6.

"J. MI` PELGER. oTfrL WASHING MACHINE. lAPPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1910.

' Patented Oct. 3,1911.

1,oo5,11o

'VENTO/ /V/TNESSES UNITED s'rA'rEs PATEN'r oFFion.

JONAS M. FELGER, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. i

BOTTLE-WAHSHING MACHINE.

Specificaton of Letters Patent.

Patenteu Oct. 8, 1911.

To aZZ 'whom tt may concer'n:

Be it known that I, J oNAs M. FELGER, of Richmond, in the county ofHenric and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in .Bottle- NVashing Machines; and I hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification.

This invention is a novel machine for washing bottles; and is especiallydesigned for use in dairies for cleansing milk bottles in the crates.

The inventio comprises mechanism whereby a crate of bottles may beinserted in the machine and in its traverse therethrough each bottle inthe crate will be filled with water, soaked, and then washed inside andoutside without being removed from the regular filling crate; and thecrate of clean bottles can be removed from the machine ready for thefilling operation;

the washing of all the bottles in the crate being accomplishedsimultaneously and without any manual -handling thereof.

vI will describe a machine that embodies the invention,-and which isillustrated in i the accompanying d1awings,-and will summarize in theclaims the novel features thereof and combinations of parts therein, forwhich protection is desired; but the invention is not restricted to theparticular form, proportion, or construction of details,

of the machine shown in the drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is anenlarged front end elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig.2 partly broken away. Fig- 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4,Fig. 2, looking downward. ig. 5 is an enlarged Vertical section throughone of the interior brush Operating shafts and related parts. Fig. 6 isa detail transverse section on line 6- 6, Fig. 2. Figi 7 is a bottomplanview of one of-the bottle plugs. Fig'. 8 is an enlarged detail view,illustrating the means of presenting the bottles to the brushes.

The machine shown in the drawings has four uprights 1 which are attachedto a base 1a and which are connected at their upper ends. by two plates,1b, 1, sulpler osed one above' the other, which carry t e rush Operatingdevices, and other parts of the mechanism. J ournaled in these plates 1,1,'

hereafter are a number of vertically disposed tubular shafts 2, see Fig.5, to each of which is connected-as hereinafter eXplained-a brush 2kwhich washes the interior of the bottles. The shafts 2 correspond innumber with the number of bottles which the crates contain: For exampleif the crates contain twenty bottles, then twenty shafts 2 are employed;so spaced apart that when the crate is properly inserted in the machineeach bottlein the crate will come directly under a corresponding shaft2. As shown there are twenty shafts 2 arranged in four parallel rows offive each extending longitudinally of the machine.

On the upper end of each shaft 2 is keyed a gear 2a;'zand the adjacentgears 2a in two adjacent transverse rows of shafts 2 (see Fig. 3) meshwith worms 3a on shafts 3 journaled in bearings 3b on the plate 10, andextending between the rows of shafts 2, see F ig. 3. Each shaft 3lcarries five Worms 8a which operate ten interior bottle-brushesattached to as many shafts 2. Each shaft 3 is provided at one end with abroad loose pulley 3 beside which is a narrow fast pulley 3a; and said`pulleys can be operated by a single belt, running under the pulleys onshafts 8 and over the pulleys on shaft 6, and belted to any suitabledriving pulley, not shown, so that by shifting the one belt the shafts 3can be simultaneously put into or out of operation at the will of theoperator.

Telescoped within the lower part of each shaft 2 is a. tube 2` which hasatslot 2b traversed by a pin 29, so that tube 2c must rotate with theshaft 2 but can slide therein. The tube 2 is normally projected by meansof a helical spring 21 interposed between the inner end of the shaft andthe vpin 2gby which` ythe pinion 2a is fixed to shaft 2. Fast Vwithinthe lower end of tube 2 is a brush-holding rod 2h which is provided withgrooves 2i on its side to allow water to desoend vthrough the tube intothe bottle. This brush-holder 2h has a socket in its lower end to'receive the. shank or stem 2j of a brush 2k which maybe secured to theholder 2h by' a screw 2m or in any other suitable .manner. The brushes2k are adapted to Wash the interior of'the bottles and I shall refer totli-1m as `interior brushes simultaneously; and each interior brush is.All the interior brushes can be rotated I I yieldable vertically toenable the brush to aldjust itself to slight variations in the height ofthe bottles, or unevenness of the bottle supports' in the crates, andthus prevent injury tothe bottles by being caught between unyieldingsurfaces. I do not claim the particular construction of these brushes;whichmay be of any suitable standard make.

The bottles while in the crates are presented to the brushes bymeanshereinafter described; and while the bottles are being washed internallythey are also scrubbed externally by-means of brushes 4k (Figs. 2 and'8), which 'I shall term exterior brushes,-attached to the lower ends ofshafts 4 also journaled in the plates 1b, 10;

.and there should be one exterior brush shaft exterior brush shafts 4may be driven by gears 4n meshing with pinions'2u on the adjacent shaftor shafts 2 (as shown in Figs. 4 and 5),-the gears 2, 4n being attachedto their shafts below the plate 1. By this arrangement of brushes eachbottle in the crate, (see Figs. 2 and 8) will be scrubbed bothexternally' and internally at the same time.

In order that the brushes 4k may 'operate eifectively on the bottles thelatter are. rotated during the scrubbing process by the following means:Loosely mounted on the lower end of eahshaft 2 below the plate 1b is apinion 5 which has a groove 5a in its hub engaged by a retainer pl te 5bfast to the plate 1b, (see Figs. 2 and so that the pinion 5'is upheldindependently of the related shaft 2. The pinion 5 is also provided onits'lower side with. a preferably externally threadedxhub 'portion 5G,to' which is attached or screwed a bottle plug 5d which is tapered onits lower side and is adapted to enga'ge and partly enter the mouth ofthe bottle B. Each plug 5d is provided with grooves 5e in its side topermit water to escape from the bottle; and it is also provided with aninterioi` bore 5r so that Water entering the plug can pass on into thebottle.

The pinions 5 on four adjacent plugs 5d are adapted to mesh with adriving pinion 5h loosely mounted on an adjacent .exterior brush shaft4, (see Eigs. 4 and 8). Each pair of adjacent pinions 5h :(see Fig. 4)may be rotated by means of a-worm 5i at` Vtached to a shaft 51 extendingtransversely through the machine and journaled in bearings 1j attachedto the underside of plate 1b; and shaft 5j is provided-with a pulley 5kon one end 'which is driven by a belt 5l from a pulley '6l on atransverse shaft' 6 journaled in bearings 6b at-tached to the upperplate l; and said shaft 6 is provided at the end adjacent pulleys 3,3dwith a fast pulley 6d a-nda loose pulley 6, which are arranged thereverse of the pulleys 3, 3d (see Figs. 2 and 3) so that when thedriving belt is shifted to engage fast-pulleys 3d it engages loosepulley 6, and When shifted to position to engage loose pulleys 3 itengages fast pulley 6d. VVhen s'hifted to an intermediate position itwould only engage the loose pulleys 3, 6. w

The bottles B are yieldingly pressed upward, (by means hereinafterdescribed) during the scrubbing Operations so that their months engagethe plugs 51 with sufficient force to cause the bottles to turn with theplugs as the latter are rotated by the driving geai'ing above described.It will be seen that by the means described the bottles are caused torotate slowly in a direction contrary to the rotation of' the rapidlyrotating interior brushes during the washing Operations while theexterior brushes rotate oppositely to the interior brushes. Clean wateris supplied to the bottles through the shafts 2, tubes 2c and plugs 5d,from a tank T, supported upon the lplate 1, to which water is suppliedin any suitable manner, and from which the water is admitted throughtubes t into the upper end of 'each tubular shaft 2.

The bottles to be washed are arranged in ordinary bottomless crates C(see *Fig 8) which are divided by metal rods or bands into compartmentsor stalls for the bottles; and the bottles are supported in thecompartments upon smaller intersecting wires, so that the bottles can bereadily -engaged by lifting devices Operating upwardly from below thecrate and between the intersecting wires. This form of crate is wellknown and does not need any further explanation or illustration herein.-In the machine shown each crate should contain ltwenty compartments, foras many bottles, such compartments corresponding in axial arrangement tothe arrangement of the interior brush-actuating shafts 2.

A crate C filled With bottles is first placed upon a pair of horizontalguide bars 9 mounted at one end of the machine and then slid inwardlybeneath a tank T', which may be constructed like tank T, provided with aseries of depending tubes t'` so that while the bottles inion'e crateare being washed, the bottles in another crate may ,be filled with waterand allowed to soak. Any overflow from the tanks or bottlesl during theoperation of the machine can be directed into 'a receiving tank T2 fromwhich the wai i from the continuously driven shaft 88. The*` at thevproper times by means of cams 7m on a shaft '7D journaled in bearingsuponA the base 1a (Figs. 1 and 2); and each of vsaid cams operatesagainst a roller Tq attached to a bar 7 f, provided with grooved rollers7S by which it is guided to move vertically between adjacent uprights 1;the bars 7r being connected by bars 7t to the platform 7 so that thecams 7 n cause the reciprocation of platform 7. Beneath the platform 7is a second vertically movable platform 7b, which is provided with eyes7c guided upon uprights 1. The platform 7b may also be raised andlowered by means of pitmen 7L1 pivotally connected to the sides of theplatform 7b (see Fig. 2), and also to the cams 7. The platform 7b has agreater extent of Vertical movement than platform 7 fora purposehereinafter shown. Movable with the platforins 7, 7h, are a series ofbottle lifting rods 76, which are guided in openings in the platforms 7,7b, and are normally projected upwardly by means of Springs 7 finterposed between the platform 7b and 'collars 78 on the rods 7* (seeFig. 8). The upward movement of these rods may be limited by collars 7hthereon below platform 7b.

The weight of the loaded crate and the platforms 7 7b may besubstantially counterbalanced by weights W which are connected by cablesw to the platform 7b; said cables running over suitable guide pulleyslw' (see Fi'gs. 1 and 2.)

The shaft 7p may tently, so as to operate the cams 7n in the propermanner and time, by means of a dwell gear 8 (Fig. 1) meshing with adwell' gear 812 fast to a shaft 8*?l suitably journaled in bearings onthe baseof the machine, and

which in turn is driven by a pinion 8e mesha ing with a worm` 8f on ashaft 8f which is substantially Vertical, and is journaled in suitablebearings 8h, 8n respectively attached to the base 1a and to the bracket6b. Shaft 8g is driven by means of a bevel gear 8j on its upper endmeshing with a bevel gear 6j on the shaft 6. The gears 8 and 8b haverelat-ed dwell portions 8a and 8c so proportioned and located thatduring each rotation of the shaft 8d an intermittent motion will beiinparted by said gears to the shaft 71' dwells of gears 8, 8h are sovproportioned that the bottles will be held stationary afterpresentation to the scrubbing brushes long enough to be thoroughlyscrubbed thereby.

At the end of the bottle scrubbin opera'- tion the platforms 7, 7b arelowere to the position shown in Fig. 8, and then the crate. of washedbottles is run out upon stationary guide rails 9a at the end of themachine opposite, rails 9, the platform 7 being then lowered" intoposition substantially flush with rails 9, 9B, so that la crate of waterfilled bottles maybe slid in upon the crate be drivenintermitvsupporting rails 7 attached to platform 7, (see Fig. 8). Thiscan be done while one of dwells 8a on the gear. 8 is in engagement witha correspondingdwell 8 on gear 8b. Then the gears 8, 8b impart motion tothe shaft 71), and cams 7, and the platformsy 7, 7b are raised. As theplatforms 7, 7b rise cams 7 cause platform 7b to approach toward' theplatform 7 and this causes spring 7 f to project rods 7e above theplatform 7; and these rods 7e entering the lower portion of the crateengagethe several bottles'therein and raise these bottles partially outof the crate, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8,-and cause them toyieldingly engage with the plugs 5d. After these parts are raised to theposition shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, and dotted linesin F ig.8, the shaft 7p is stopped by the dwells in gears 8, 8b coming intoengagement; and while the parts are thus stopped eachbottle is rotated'as above described, and scrubbed by the more rapidly rotating eXteriorand interior brushes k, k. At the end of the well the platforms 7, 7band crate of washe bottles are lowered; the rods 79 withdrawing from thecrate (as shown in full lines Fig. 8) and the bottles dropping away fromthe brushes; so that the crate of washed bottles can be slid out uponthe guide rails 9a while a crate of soaked bottles is slid upon theguide bars 7 of 'platform 7 ready tobe subjected to the action of thebrushes.

The machine is entirely automatic and no shifting of the belt isnecessary in the ordinary Operations thereof, as the dwell gearsregulate thev time of scrubbing the bottles, and also the time forraising a.ndlowering the crates of bottles; and the operator simply hasto feed crates of unwashed bottlesl to the machine and remove the cratesof cleansed bottles therefrom.

In actual practice after the bottles leave the washing apparatus theypass on to rinsing and sterilizing devices, not shown in the drawings,'as they form no part of the presbelow the brushes adapted to support acrate of bottles, means for moving the crate support toward the brushes,and means for yieldingly raisin each bottle in the crate during 'thescrub ing operation.v

2. In a bottle 'washing machine, the combination'of a series ofvertically disposed A parallel brushes adapted to scrub' the interior ofbottles, gearing for simultaneously rotating all these brushes, aplatform below -t e brushes adapted to support a crate .of bo tles',means for moving the platform an crate vei'tically toward the brushes so"s-t'o 13 ing the scrubbing operation; with a second cause the latter toenter the bottles, and means for yieldingly raising each bottle in theCrate during the scrubbing operation.

3. In a bottle Washng machine, the combination of a series of verticallydisposed parallel brushes adapted vto scrub the `interior of bottles,gearing for simultaneously rotating all these brushes, a platform belowthe brushes adapted to support a Crate of bottles, means for moving theplatform and Crate vertically toward the brushes so as to Cause thelatter to enter the bottles, and means for yieldingly raising eachbottle in the Crate during 'the scrubbing operation;

lwith means for rotating the bottles on their own' axis during thescrubbing operation.

4. In a bottle washing machine, the Combinationof a series of verticallydisposed parallel brushes, and means for rotating the 'i same,v a pairof movable platforms below the brushes, means for reciprocating saidplatforms to and from thebrushes, and for giving one of said platforms agreater extent of travel than the other; the upper platform beingadapted to receive a Crate of bottles and raise the Crate so as tosimultaneously present all the bottles therein to the brushes, andyieldable spring pressed rods movable with the lower platform andadapted to project through the upper platform into the Crate and raiseall the bottles therein and hold them in yielding contact with thebrushes during the scrubbing operation.

5. In a bottlel washing machine, the combination of a seriesofvertically disposed parallel interior brushes, and means for rotatingthe same; a pair of movable' platforms below the brushes, means forreciprocating said platforms to' and from lthe' brushes and giving oneof said platforms a greater extent of travel than the other; andvieldable spring press-ed rods movable with the lower platform andadapted to project through the upper platform into a Crate of bottlesplaced thereon and simultaneously raise all the bottles in the Crateinto yielding Contact with the brushes during the scrubbing operation;with means for rotating the bottles vwhile they are being scrubbed.

6. In a bottle washing machine, thev combination of a series ofvertically disposed parallel interior brushes, and means for rotatingthe same; a pair of movable platforms below the brushes,meansfor.recip-, rocating said platforms to and from the brushes andgiving one of said platforms a greater extent of travel than the other,the upper platform when lowered'adapted to receive a |'Crate of bottles,and yieldable spring pressed rods movable With the lower platform andadapted to project through the' upper platform into the Crate and raise.the bottles therein and hold them in yielding Contact with the interiorbrushes durmeans for rotating the exterior brushes,

and means for rotating the bottles while they are being scrubbed.

7. In a bottle washing machine, the Combination of a series ofvertically disposed parallel brushes adapted to scrub the interiorv ofbottles, gearing for simultaneously rotating these brushes, a platformbelow the brushes adapted to support a ,Crate of bottles, means forraising the platform and Crate so that the brushes can simultaneouslyenter the bottles,'and means for yieldingly raising each bottle in theCrate during the scrubbing operation, the bottles being independentlyyieldablc; with a series of brushes adapted to scrub the exteriors ofthe bottles while the interior brushes are Operating thereupon; andmeans for rotating the exterior brushes.

8. In a bottle washing machine, the combination of a series ofvertically disposed parallel brushes adapted to scrub the interior ofbottles, gearing for simultaneously rotating these brushes, means forraising a Cratepf bottles toward said brushes so a's to cause the latterto enter the bottles, and-` means for independently raising each bottlein the Crate and holding it in yielding contact with the brush during.the scrubbing operation; with a series of brushes adapted to scrub theexterior of the bottles While the interior brushes are Operatingthereupon, and means for rotating the exteror brushes; with means forrotating the bottles on their own axes during. the scrubbing operation.

9. In a bottle scrubbing machine, thel combination of a bottle Cratesupport, a series of vertically disposed brush shafts thereover, brushesyieldably attached to the lower end of said shafts, a bottle-plugloosely mounted on the lwoer end of each shaft, means for independentlybut simultaneously yieldably raising all the bottles in the Crate intocontact with the plugs, and meansl for causing the plugs to positivelyrotate the bottles Contrary to the brushes While the brushes areOperating thereupon.

10. lIn a bottle scrubbing machine, the combination of a bottle Cratesupport, a series of Vertical shafts thereabove, brushl holding` shaftsyieldably attached to the lower ends of said Vertical shafts, abottleplug loosely mounted on the lower end of each Vertical shaft abovethe brushes; means for simultaneously raising all the bottles in theCrateIi-nto contact withthe plugs and for yieldingly holding each bottle1n contact 'with its plug so that the brushes may voperate upon thenteriors of the bottles; and means for' Causing the plugs to positivelyrotate the bottles oppositely vto the brushes while the brushes areOperating thereupon.

11. -In a bottle scrubbing machine, the combination of a bot-tle cratesupport, a series of Vertical shafts thereabove, brush holding shaftsyieldably attached to the lower ends of said Vertical shafts, abottleplug loosely mounted on the lower end of each Vertical shaft abovethe brushes; means for Siinultaneously raising all the bottles in theCrate into contact With the plug and for yieldingly holding each bottlein contact with its plug so that the brushe may operate upon theinteriors of the bottles, the bottles being independently yieldahle; and

means for causing the plugs to positively -rotate the bott-les oppostelyto the brushes While the brushes are Operating thereupon; with a set ofbrushes aclapted to scrub the exterior of the bottles simultaneouslyWit-li the action of the interior brushes t-hereon, and means forrotating the exteror brushcs.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I atfix my signaturein presence of two Witnesses.

JONAS M. FELGER.

Witnesses:

L. M. F ELGER, E. S. WALLAGE.

